Maine

[ashandvine]

Thanks Ash. I have a lot of maple around my yard (surrounded by mixed hard/soft wood) but it is no where enough to meet my craving for mulch material. I know an old co-worker in Bangor who I may call on to get her leaves this fall. Perhaps trade her some empty bags for some full bags! I put a lot of grass clippings on my potatoes this year. The tops are growing like crazy, very poor blossoming. I know that potatoes are heavy feeders, so not sure if the excess nitrogen will set back tuber formation. My squash has completely taken over my garden. I've allowed it to go where ever it wants to because last year was such a poor squash year for me. It's quite a challenge wading through waist high squash leaves to get to the pole beans... which are completely covered by squash vines... not to mention the potato vines that are growing up through my cucumber trellis. When rogue potato or tomato plants show themselves, I don't have the heart to rip them out. As a result, my garden is a jungle.

We have corn that is as high as the cottage roof and pumpkins and squash ambling which I love but you are right, you need a machete and hip waders to get through them.

Point of interest for you LG: Nitrogen feeders will like the grass clippings and chicken poo of course because they both fix nitrogen into the soil. Beans do as well, hence, planting them with corn since corn is a hungry plant as well. I love to get all the leaves from my neighbors yard. There are huge old maples here so I get a good amount of leaves. Never enough so I have gone to gathering those bags from neighbors who don't mind. Another thing to note is that nightshade plants like a different soil than other plants. Tomatoes, eggl plans, peppers and tomatoes are all part of the nightshade family. They all like a really well draining, sandier soil. If they get really wet and stay that way they don't do as well. I also love when a tomato volunteers in my garden.

Has anyone tried growing Fava Beans here? Bucka? You are usually my source for these things

Does he have the cow physically on his property? What I'm really looking for is small time farmer that has extra milk. If this guy does, I could go and then visit you.

Yes. I was intrigued when he was talking about his Scottish Highland beasties. I could ask around some more too. I know there are likely quite a few folks. That food co-op that Mainechick mentioned is down here and pretty good for locating locals if you ask them.

Beans are coming in gangbusters which means.... CANNING SEASON HAS BEGUN HERE! The last jar of Dilly Beans left with my neighbor yesterday.

 

[hoppy]

it's chicken washing day for the show on sunday. guess I better decide whos going before I start washing ,lol

 

[ashandvine]

Is it just me or does this NOT look very appealing. Um... it looks like pudding! Oh, now its appealing. lol Just teasing you SCG

 

[hoppy]

mozzella cheese, yummy

Is it just me or does this NOT look very appealing. Um... it looks like pudding! Oh, now its appealing. lol Just teasing you SCG

 

[lazy gardener]

Ash: re: favas I planted a few last spring just for grins and giggles. They grew nice and tall, seemed to be a great trap for aphids. I never did harvest any though. I couldn't wrap my head around dealing with them. From the info I've read, you have to shuck each bean out of it's skin? They'd be a great green manure crop. How do they taste, and how do you cook/use them. I also tried 3 sisters last year and was greatly disappointed. The corn was stunted, the beans made an impenetrable net covering everything, and the squash did very poorly. However, the traditional 3 sisters was grown for flint corn, dried beans and squash which would be harvested around first frost, so... there would be no need to wade through the tangle until harvesting all 3 crops. I'm not willing to try it again... but if any one out here on ME thread can tell me that they've had success with sweet corn, fresh green beans and squash, I'm all ears. However, I have my own 2 sisters version that consists of corn and potatoes. I stumbled on this one year when I had some volunteer potatoes come up in my corn planting that grew better than the potatoes I planted in a "potato designated" area. I'm also intrigued with the idea of rotating strawberries and corn through the garden space. The plan goes like this: You plant your corn beside your strawberries, or if starting strawberries for the first time, you interplant them between the corn. Then, you let the strawberry runners set throughout the corn. As you harvest the corn, you leave the berry plants, and till in or mulch (deep enough to kill) the previous years strawberry row(s).

I am blessed beyond what any one could hope for in a garden spot on small acreage. Sandy loam, well drained, gentle south slope. The only down side is the perennial irreconcileable differences between hubby and myself. He craves green lawn... I crave gardens, and more gardens. If I had my way, I'd turn all of the open area to the west of my house into vegetable and berry garden and orchard (about an acre). However, I settle for the garden creep method. Unfortunately, he's wise to my underhanded conniving!!! "Honey, can you tell me why the garden is getting closer to the house????"

 

[joanie_maine]

Ash: re: favas I planted a few last spring just for grins and giggles. They grew nice and tall, seemed to be a great trap for aphids. I never did harvest any though. I couldn't wrap my head around dealing with them. From the info I've read, you have to shuck each bean out of it's skin? They'd be a great green manure crop. How do they taste, and how do you cook/use them. I also tried 3 sisters last year and was greatly disappointed. The corn was stunted, the beans made an impenetrable net covering everything, and the squash did very poorly. However, the traditional 3 sisters was grown for flint corn, dried beans and squash which would be harvested around first frost, so... there would be no need to wade through the tangle until harvesting all 3 crops. I'm not willing to try it again... but if any one out here on ME thread can tell me that they've had success with sweet corn, fresh green beans and squash, I'm all ears. However, I have my own 2 sisters version that consists of corn and potatoes. I stumbled on this one year when I had some volunteer potatoes come up in my corn planting that grew better than the potatoes I planted in a "potato designated" area. I'm also intrigued with the idea of rotating strawberries and corn through the garden space. The plan goes like this: You plant your corn beside your strawberries, or if starting strawberries for the first time, you interplant them between the corn. Then, you let the strawberry runners set throughout the corn. As you harvest the corn, you leave the berry plants, and till in or mulch (deep enough to kill) the previous years strawberry row(s).

I am blessed beyond what any one could hope for in a garden spot on small acreage. Sandy loam, well drained, gentle south slope. The only down side is the perennial irreconcileable differences between hubby and myself. He craves green lawn... I crave gardens, and more gardens. If I had my way, I'd turn all of the open area to the west of my house into vegetable and berry garden and orchard (about an acre). However, I settle for the garden creep method. Unfortunately, he's wise to my underhanded conniving!!! "Honey, can you tell me why the garden is getting closer to the house????"

I like the idea of the "potato designated area" My two rows grew so big and then fell over to cover the basil and parsley

Also the potato bugs had a field day on my plants. I'm digging potatoes now and the crop is ok.

I plan to move the potato rows to a separate area next year so I can dust the plants madly without getting the dust on things like lettuce, basil etc

PS My garden was lawn last year - it's going to eat more lawn next year!!!

 

[joanie_maine]

it's chicken washing day for the show on sunday. guess I better decide whos going before I start washing ,lol

I just wash as many possibilities as I can - whoever looks good on Sunday is going!!!!

 

[hoppy]

I only have so many that are showable colors so it's how much do I want to "donate" to the show with zero chance of winning. I may do one more tomorrow, got a few done today. ducks will be interesting, they fly really well.
lol

I just wash as many possibilities as I can - whoever looks good on Sunday is going!!!!

 

[hoppy]

first tell honey that "you can't eat grass!"
my mom has always planted corn with squash, never an issue. this yr for the first time I tried some different sister combos
I have my pole beans climbing my corn and sunflowers, my cukes with the sunflowers(trellised)
so far, they are all happy, wait until harvest time, and I will see how happy I am.....

However, the traditional 3 sisters was grown for flint corn, dried beans and squash which would be harvested around first frost, so... there would be no need to wade through the tangle until harvesting all 3 crops. I'm not willing to try it again... but if any one out here on ME thread can tell me that they've had success with sweet corn, fresh green beans and squash, I'm all ears. ).

If I had my way, I'd turn all of the open area to the west of my house into vegetable and berry garden and orchard (about an acre). However, I settle for the garden creep method. Unfortunately, he's wise to my underhanded conniving!!! "Honey, can you tell me why the garden is getting closer to the house????"

 

[buckabucka]

I do grow fava beans. They are delicious, and I like that they are frost hardy, so you can plant them at the same time as peas. They do get tall, so I give them part of the pea fence.

This is the first year I am not battling aphids. They like the fava beans and are usually thick on the eggplant and peppers. I don't know where they went this year. The fava bean pods get really big and mine get these weird black spots (looks like potato scab) when they are mature. You have to extract the beans from the pod, and then after you cook them, there is another skin you have to remove from the bean, but that slips off easily once you cook them briefly. Sometimes the skins have black spots too, but so far, the beans themselves have been unblemished.