What did you do in the garden today?

[WthrLady]

I've been busy updating the garden design.

View attachment 2491593

I've added the mini orchard, two more raised beds for strawberries and herbs, decided to put the rhubarb in the pollinator flower border, and integrated three sisters in the squash/pumpkin area.

For the three sisters I have:
Sister 1 - butternut squash, winter luxury pumpkin and sugar pumpkin
Sister 2 - I should be able to get scarlet runner beans locally
Sister 3 - I'm struggling to figure out a good variety of corn. I could just grow the "Bodacious Sweet Corn" I'll be planting in a row. It will likely be sturdy enough, but the ears will likely go to waste as I will not be able to get in to them without damaging growing squash and pumpkins. I need a corn that is tall and sturdy and can be left on the stalk to dry while the beans, squash and pumpkins finish growing. I was thinking of getting hominy, but haven't found it. Popcorn is too short typically. I'm not too interested in ornamental varieties. I want to grow something we'll eat. Any suggestions?

There's a popcorn sorghum.

 

[microchick]

What did I do in the garden today? Hmmm. My garden looks like @BullChick's garden at the minute but we have an ongoing project going trying to enhance the soil where our garden was last year. That means we have been dumping stove ash and chicken compost on the area.

Some areas grew a marvelous crop of green beans and turnips for us and ten feet away, nada. So we are working on the 'nada' side of things mainly hoping to enrich the soil.

Time will tell. We have spread ash on our lawn in the past and it has really made an impact on the health of the lawn so we shall see.

 

[Artichoke Lover]

Yesterday, I cleaned out the chicken coop and started a new compost pile with the bedding. I collected two 5 gallon buckets of ashes to spread in the garden and then raked pine straw until dark.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Good morning gardeners. Nothing going on outside today. Rain started around 3 am and we now have an inch or more and it's still raining. I too have been using stove ash around the garden areas. I also use it around my peach tree where the soil is a bit acidic. Since this is my first year with the grow bags, can I put two different varieties of potatoes next to each other? The laundry room in my basement is relatively cool so I think storing seed potatoes there should be fine. I still have space for a bit more storage in that area even after DD bought a treadmill and put it in that room. I would like to get another cabinet that matches my canned goods cabinet since kitchen cabinets are maxed out. I didn't make it to the store to buy planting supplies yesterday, but I'm thinking the heavy rain may deter other shoppers so I may try again today. Winter temps are supposed to return later in the week.

 

[WthrLady]

Morning all. Didn't make it to sleep last night/ this morning, until 2am. Dog woke me up barking at a neighbors dogs that run free all over the county. They were in our front yard, one having a runny poop attack. I am so sick of them. They get my dog sick and I'll be so mad.

I'd say something to him but he KNOWS he doesn't care, either about them or anyone else. So it would be pointless.

 

[BReeder!]

would you eat purple corn? maiz morado is tall. I haven't eaten it but I know a person that grows and eats it.

only 2 bean seeds/corn - that is what I have heard. any idea if that is correct?

if you want to keep seeds from pumpkins and squash do not plant them together. once my mother got huge pumpkins with red parts from some ornamental variety

2 beans per corn seems reasonable. However the corn is typically planted in a cluster. I'll be planting 3-4 corn seeds together in the center of each mound. Then beans up close right around the corn once it's about 6 inches tall. The squash and pumpkins will get planted 2ft from the center of the mound at the same time as the beans.

 

[BReeder!]

Good morning gardeners. Nothing going on outside today. Rain started around 3 am and we now have an inch or more and it's still raining. I too have been using stove ash around the garden areas. I also use it around my peach tree where the soil is a bit acidic. Since this is my first year with the grow bags, can I put two different varieties of potatoes next to each other? The laundry room in my basement is relatively cool so I think storing seed potatoes there should be fine. I still have space for a bit more storage in that area even after DD bought a treadmill and put it in that room. I would like to get another cabinet that matches my canned goods cabinet since kitchen cabinets are maxed out. I didn't make it to the store to buy planting supplies yesterday, but I'm thinking the heavy rain may deter other shoppers so I may try again today. Winter temps are supposed to return later in the week.

With potatoes, yes you can plant different species next to each other. Something to watch is determinate vs indeterminate. Early potatoes tend to be determinate and late ones tend to be indeterminate. You don't need to hill determinate varieties. Just mulch them good after the plant grows about 6 inches. Indeterminate potatoes should be hilled. These are the types you see in successful potato towers.

 

[BReeder!]

Morning all. Didn't make it to sleep last night/ this morning, until 2am. Dog woke me up barking at a neighbors dogs that run free all over the county. They were in our front yard, one having a runny poop attack. I am so sick of them. They get my dog sick and I'll be so mad.

I'd say something to him but he KNOWS he doesn't care, either about them or anyone else. So it would be pointless.

Start calling animal control when the dog is on your property.

 

[WthrLady]

There isn't one. We're in open country. Not within in any jurisdiction of even a village, so it's an interesting situation. He's one of the few country people out here you just don't bother with because he doesn't give a flying poo about anyone but himself. The other guy is his neighbor.

I've seen his dogs running around up to a mile away from his place like they own the world. These are the dogs that spend all summer running in front of grain haulers, harassing the cattle, and being a general pain in the butt. It's not the dogs fault. And all you have to do is yell at them and they go home, but I worry about my free-rangers.

 

[BReeder!]

would you eat purple corn? maiz morado is tall. I haven't eaten it but I know a person that grows and eats it.

I would eat it, but I believe it's eaten while tender. I need a variety I can make use of when dry. I don't have a grain mill so I need to keep the kernels whole. That's why I was thinking hominy or popcorn. It does need to be tall and sturdy though, and I need to be able to source it.