What did you do in the garden today?

[Sueby]

Did you know that you can plant pumpkins, and have them rest on a table? Pinch off any babies not resting on the table or even coop/shed roof.
I lost one pumpkin, the big one is now to my knee, and the ones in the fence… I don’t know what will become of them.
View attachment 2795067
This is the higher fence pumpkin.
View attachment 2795066
The missing pumpkin … probably due to the chickens.
View attachment 2795068

Neat idea, I had never thought of that! But, alas, I have no room for a table either! Everything has to be fenced in around here or the deer & groundhogs will eat it. I just have small walk ways around the raised beds. The plan is to retire & double the size of the garden - then I'll have room! Nice pumpkin!

 

[Acre4Me]

Poblano recipes! What to do with these poblanos??

the red one is a pimento, I think.

I have a bucketful and many more on the plant!

do they turn red? I picked them green as one had already fallen off the plant, and I’m more familiar with them being green.

 

[Sueby]

Poblano recipes! What to do with these poblanos??

the red one is a pimento, I think.

I have a bucketful and many more on the plant!

do they turn red? I picked them green as one had already fallen off the plant, and I’m more familiar with them being green.

View attachment 2795127

I don't like peppers, but I'd stuff them! They look like a good size to stuff.

Did u plant any hot cherries? I've never seen a pimento, but I have hot cherries & that's exactly what they look like.

 

[gtaus]

I've been wondering what to ask for when I hope to buy the supplies for new beds. What are the metal panels called? I hate fumbling with descriptions for things I'm not familiar with. Thanks!

I buy the 8 ft. Corrugated Galvanized Steel Utility-Gauge Roof Panel from Home Depot.

Current price is $12.98 per panel. I cut my panel in half height (~13 inches) and half length (4 feet). So I can make a 16 inch tall 4X4 foot raised bed from one panel. Since I already had the recycled wood available behind my garage, each 4X4 metal panel raised bed costs me only about $15.00 for the metal panel and pocket hole screws for each bed. If you have to buy the wood, that would of course increase your costs. Using the frame design for the metal panel raised beds is still a lot less expensive than building a completely wooden raised bed - our local lumber prices have not come down yet.

Here is a video of the basic design I used. He built 4X12 beds. If you build these beds at 8 or 12 feet long, you will need to add additional support in the middle so the long sides do not bow out. Soil is heavy and will bow out the sides. I made my beds 4X4 feet and they do not bow out because they are shorter. Also, I was able to find enough recycled wood to make my beds 4 feet square, but I did not have many boards 8 feet long. If I had enough long wood, I probably would have made my beds 4X8 and saved a little effort on cutting the metal panels in half.

Also, just want to mention that I decided to cut my metal panels in half height and place them in 16 inch X 4 feet frames. If you don't cut the metal panels in half height, then your bed is going to ~26 inches tall. If you have trouble bending over, then a tall raised bed would be an advantage. I cut my panels in half height to double up the number of beds I could make. 16 inch tall beds works very good for me.

 

[gtaus]

Sorry to hear about the drought & what a problem it's been for you @gtaus. That's such a bummer.

@gtaus, I am so sorry to hear about your water troubles.

Sorry about your water woes @gtaus. Those of us in New England understand after the drought we experienced last year.

The only good thing about this terrible drought year is that my hügelkultur beds have still been producing, and my elevated sub irrigated planters are basically drought free as long as I refill the water reservoir.

Here is a current picture of my elevated sub irrigated planter out on our deck. I only planted beans in it this year. You cannot tell we are suffering a drought this year by looking at that planter. We have harvested a ton of beans just from that one 2X4 foot planter this year and it is still producing.

So I have had some successes to feel good about. Good thing I did not have all my gardening invested in only one method. My main "traditional" garden is pretty much a total loss this year, but my "alternative" gardening methods (hügelkultur raised beds, elevated sub irrigated planters) have done well.

Picture of one of my new 16 inch tall 4X4 foot galvanized steel panel hügelkultur raised beds showing my pepper plants about 1 month ago. These pepper plants have really bushed out and produced about a dozen or more peppers each, with more coming in each week. I am in the process of making 2 more of these raised beds for the backyard.

Dear Wife likes the idea of moving more gardening in the backyard by the chicken coop and run. Makes good sense to me and somehow I got her to think it was her idea. Win-Win.

 

[Happy hen lover]

In theory, the hügelkultur beds should store more water in the spongy wood base than a "normal" raised bed with just soil mix. In this drought year, I have seen a very big difference in performance and the hügelkultur beds are just doing a lot better. Having said that, you still need to water, or have rainfall, every once in a while to keep the beds hydrated.

I know a lot of people wonder if the galvanized metal panel raised beds would get too hot. Well, not as far as I can tell. My new galvanized metal panel hügelkultur beds are outperforming all my other beds, but it's not a fair comparison as I am able to turn on the water faucet for at least 30 minutes per day to water my galvanized beds in my backyard, whereas the beds in the main garden only get manual watering a couple times a week. But I don't think the soil in the metal panel beds is any hotter than the wooden raised beds.



My pepper plants in the main garden (with no running water) are only about 1 foot tall, and have maybe only 1 pepper on a plant. My pepper plants in the galvanized metal panel hügelkultur raised beds (with sprinkler running 30 minutes per day) are almost 3 feet tall and I have picked maybe a dozen or more of peppers off each plant. If the soil was too hot from the galvanized metal panels, then I would think the plants might suffer from the heat even if they are watered every day. I don't see any signs of heat stress in my plants in the metal panel raised beds.

Good to know about the heat of the metal. I have wicking tubs that are staying moist in this all, so only same concept. At least the barn metal has gone up like lumber!

 

[Happy hen lover]

Good to know about the heat of the metal. I have wicking tubs that are staying moist in this all, so only same concept. At least the barn metal has gone up like lumber!

That should read metal has NOT gone up like lumber!

 

[Elyrian1]

That should read metal has NOT gone up like lumber!

Be careful, it's starting to. Meanwhile lumber is beginning to correct, and I noticed used car prices budge lower for the first time in months as well in the last two weeks. The metal industry just moves a little slower, especially anything dependent on recycled metals, because most yards would have had a backstock on the ground to level things out for longer and give the mill something to chew on.

Anybody know if concrete is going up or not? I haven't checked lately, lol. We're thinking about building raised beds with DIY cast concrete. Only need to have one or two up and running in the next two months, so that gives us most of winter to get more going if we go that route.

 

[vall]

If you want to be dirt cheap making the galvanized beds, you can use no wood at all. This one is 3x9, using four 6-foot panels so I only had to cut two of them. The edges are more roofing parts, and I have metal straps inside to prevent the sides from bowing out, but they would actually rather bow in since the soil decomposes so fast. I never got around to covering the edges with something since they're sort of sharp, but not sharp enough to cut myself in three years.

I don't have running water out in the main garden, so after this year, I am seriously considering pulling up all the raised beds, tilling the soil, and planting grass. It's either that or I will have to invest in maybe a well pump to water the garden.

I'm sorry, that is a bummer. If you're pulling out the raised beds you may as well move it all, but furrows might be possible to water with the small pump you have.

Poblano recipes! What to do with these poblanos??

the red one is a pimento, I think.

I have a bucketful and many more on the plant!

do they turn red? I picked them green as one had already fallen off the plant, and I’m more familiar with them being green.

The red one looks like my pimentos, sweeter than a bell when red/ripe. I could use more poblano recipes too.. they can be picked either green or red, and used fresh or dried.

 

[Elyrian1]

Poblano recipes! What to do with these poblanos??

the red one is a pimento, I think.

I have a bucketful and many more on the plant!

do they turn red? I picked them green as one had already fallen off the plant, and I’m more familiar with them being green.

View attachment 2795127

Look up chili relleno burritos. Roast the poblanos, peel off the skin, stuff with cheese and batter dip before frying. Then put them in a burrito with Spanish rice and hope you did it right, because if you didn't, it'll melt your face off.