What did you do in the garden today?

[CNJ]

I started garlic indoors after 30 days in the fridge two years ago and successfully grew it still after transplanting - as long as it gets has cold stratification I don't think it matters too much if it roots before hand.

I just stuck some garlic cloves in a pot, not sure if they will grow. I never planted garlic before. Two of the cloves had a small green shoot with no root.

 

[CNJ]

I half filled a 20 gallon tote with water and mixed in a cup of Alaskan fish fertilizer with a 2lb bag of brown sugar. Then I put in a 5lbs frozen dead koi, I did not weigh it down. I hope it turns into fertilizer. I'll check it after a month. Its covered, so I am not expecting maggots. I saw a video of someone making fish fertilizer, but he used more sugar and did not add Alaskan fish fertilizer. I am thinking that the Alaskan fish fertilizer I added has the beneficial bacteria to break the frozen fish down and it should be activated by the sugar. It shouldn't smell too bad when I open it, it should smell like the Alaskan fish fertilizer (I hope)....................Anyway, its another one of my crazy experiments.

 

[jerryse]

Cloudy yesterday and this morning. I hope we see some sun this afternoon.

 

[Acre4Me]

I managed some garden clean up today. I finally harvested the rest of our carrots (about 20 lbs worth) and planted garlic. I should have planted the garlic in November but never got around to it. I hope it all takes - I think it will be alright seeing I started garlic indoors after 30 days in the fridge two years ago and successfully grew it still after transplanting - as long as it gets has cold stratification I don't think it matters too much if it roots before hand.

I mapped out the garden today too. I just drew it on paper this year. No fancy spreadsheet like I usually do - but I'll probably get it in a spreadsheet anyway to save for future reference. I'm doing less plant species this year but planning to attempt to grow watermelon and maybe cantaloupe along with sunflowers in a large section of the garden. I have struggled with attempts to grow watermelon in the past but I'm going all in on it this year - I'm not planting any squash or pumpkins even and making melons the only large vine this year (pole beans will be the only other vines actually). I'm thinking I will work to remove the sunchokes this year. We like them in small amounts, not enough to grow them anymore though. That's a 4x4 area of raised bed that I look forward to having back for other plants next year.

Melons!! Me too!

Hot hot hot- they love it HOT and sunny.

They need a lot of nutrients, like cabbage, they are hungry plants.

So, I grew sweet potatoes for the first time last year and followed directions for these more northern locations, and pre heated the soil and used black plastic all season under the plants. I had more starts, so put those in warm soil, but not preheated, and no black plastic under them. What a difference with the black plastic! So, I’ll use the same idea for the melons this year.

FWIW, I start melons from seed in hills directly in the the garden. If you start seeds, just be aware melons can be temperamental with transplanting, so only start a few weeks before transplant and/or use a larger container for the seeds you start.

We have had some good success with melons. We’ve tried many varieties. Some grow fine then die quickly from wilt. So, try several varieties.

Good luck

 

[BReeder!]

I just stuck some garlic cloves in a pot, not sure if they will grow. I never planted garlic before. Two of the cloves had a small green shoot with no root.

They do need to get cold. If they don't, they will not divide.

 

[BReeder!]

Melons!! Me too!

Hot hot hot- they love it HOT and sunny.

They need a lot of nutrients, like cabbage, they are hungry plants.

So, I grew sweet potatoes for the first time last year and followed directions for these more northern locations, and pre heated the soil and used black plastic all season under the plants. I had more starts, so put those in warm soil, but not preheated, and no black plastic under them. What a difference with the black plastic! So, I’ll use the same idea for the melons this year.

FWIW, I start melons from seed in hills directly in the the garden. If you start seeds, just be aware melons can be temperamental with transplanting, so only start a few weeks before transplant and/or use a larger container for the seeds you start.

We have had some good success with melons. We’ve tried many varieties. Some grow fine then die quickly from wilt. So, try several varieties.

Good luck

Black plastic sounds like a good idea. Not sure what varieties I'm doing yet, but I think I so have black diamond watermelon seeds. We will see what other seeds I buy.

 

[BReeder!]

I forgot pics yesterday.

Carrots we harvested:

I have the starter grow rack setup. I wrapped it in plastic to keep moisture in as its in our garage, which gets dry due to the garage heater. All new starter trays and cells this year too since last year we dealt with a bacterial or fungal attack on many starts that I am blaming on the reused trays and cells. So going to refuse 4" and 6" pots, but going to clean them with vinegar or bleach solution.

 

[TJAnonymous]

I half filled a 20 gallon tote with water and mixed in a cup of Alaskan fish fertilizer with a 2lb bag of brown sugar. Then I put in a 5lbs frozen dead koi, I did not weigh it down. I hope it turns into fertilizer. I'll check it after a month. Its covered, so I am not expecting maggots. I saw a video of someone making fish fertilizer, but he used more sugar and did not add Alaskan fish fertilizer. I am thinking that the Alaskan fish fertilizer I added has the beneficial bacteria to break the frozen fish down and it should be activated by the sugar. It shouldn't smell too bad when I open it, it should smell like the Alaskan fish fertilizer (I hope)....................its another one of my crazy experiments.

I picked up some dead bait fish from the bait & tackle shop down the street a couple springs ago. Buried them above a foot deep around the garden hoping they would decompose and provide nutrients to the soil. However the critters had a different plan. They could smell it and had no qualms about digging up the garden to reach it.

 

[CNJ]

They do need to get cold. If they don't, they will not divide.

What do you mean by not divide? Do you mean one clove will not grow into a bulb?

 

[TJAnonymous]

OK... I said I was done ordering stuff. Then this came...



Has anyone ever ordered from them before? They have a couple of herbs I want to try (sesame, flax, etc...). I also saw these starter pots. Might try them too.