Garden 2016 Underway

[SuperChooch]

Got some tomatoes, garlic, spinach, broccoli, hot peppers, lettuce, pickling cucumbers. I use a motion detection sprinkler to keep the deer away. (that black thing on the tripod) and drip irrigation connected into my sprinkler system. I have really loved the Ramapo tomato that was brought back from near extinction by Rutgers and I am also trying the new Rutgers 250 breed, which apparently is a recreation of the original Rutgers.

What are others planting?

Even the little guy was helpful this year

 

[Spung-Man]

May 14, 2016 Richland Plot– a local tradition!

​

(foreground) Collards, Chinese cabbages (2 types), Chinese greens (12 types), lettuces (5 types), spinach, broccoli (2 types), cauliflower, spring raab, chard, scallion (3 types), snow peas (two types), herbs, daikon (3 types), garlic, and rhubarb. No dandelion this year, boo-hoo. I had bad luck with carrots and beets the last couple years so dropped them from the spring list.

I also put out a dozen wax beans with the 50/50 chance they will survive cold to make an early crop.

(background) Red & black raspberries, Asian pear, gooseberries, currants.

It’s been too cold to set out the warm-season crops, which remain safe in the cold frame. In the Pines it is customary to wait for the first May full moon to pass before setting out tender plants for fear of frost.

S-M

 

[SuperChooch]

Thanks for sharing Spung-Man. I hadn't heard of the full moon rule of thumb, I've always used May 15th as the goal post for planting warm season crops.

 

[ecampbell]

I put in 16 San Marzano tomato plants. I used to plant plum's but these are so much better. I got them at the Red Top Market. I will also be planting regular tomatoes including cherry which never seem to make it back to the house. Also zucchini, cucumbers and horse radish. I hit the horse radish with the tiller a couple of years ago and all the pieces grew into another plant. Are you using drip irrigation? I am thinking of switching from a spray.
I also plant a fun garden with elephant ears , canna and banana plants.

 

[Spung-Man]

Mmm, San Marzano is a tasty plum tomato!

Drip irrigation is needed for deep watering, but I still have to spot hand water from above to wet everything in drought. As a guy who studies soil I'm a big believer that roots and their environment are woefully underappreciated. Check out the figures shown in Root Development of Vegetable Crops (Weaver & Bruner 1927):

Beets(especially Fig 21) – http://soilandhealth.org/wp-content/uploads/01aglibrary/010137veg.roots/010137ch8.html

Muskmelon (especially Fig 85) – http://soilandhealth.org/wp-content/uploads/01aglibrary/010137veg.roots/010137ch30.html​

Each square represents a one-foot grid of soil. I pity the poor grunt digging out the pits!

Roots are one reason I started to study periglacial geomorphology – to help explain why tree roots sometimes grow in polygonal patterns. They follow the template of ice age cryodesiccation and thermal-contraction cracks in Pine Barrens fragipan (a dense soil layer).

S–M

 

[Boyd]

Forecast says 34 degrees tonight. Hope everything is OK with these beautiful gardens!

 

[Spung-Man]

Boyd,

All the crops I mentioned tolerate frost, save the beans. A short growing season is one of those things you adapt to living in the Pines. Some of the more tender greens like Yu Choy, Choy Sum, and Taisai are bred for southern Asia, so might bolt early but are still tasty id picked before full flower.

Frost may not come at 34ºF unless the wind dies down. If still, all bets are off. Without wind frost is possible at 37ºF.

https://forums.njpinebarrens.com/threads/freeze-watch.10813/#post-131224​

Raised beds help, since cold air will pool harmlessly into sunken paths.

Also, my rich, dark, moist organic soil is full of latent heat that helps raise the immediate microenvironment. My secret weapon is alfalfa meal, a trick of John Sabuco (1990: 38–39, The Best of the Hardiest). At 1/2–1 pound per square foot this horse feed adds all necessary nutrients, conditions the soil, feeds soil microorganisms, raises pH, and contains no pesky weed seeds like manure.

S-M

 

[Spung-Man]

Here is the same garden plot ten-days out:

​

Added are parsnips, tomatoes, tomatillo, sweet & hot peppers, eggplant, squash, yard-long beans, bitter gourd, Chinese okra, baby corn, cucumber, Asian melon, and okra.

The late-April green beans were ever-so-slightly kissed by May frost, but are moving along nicely. The Barrens are aren't so barren after all!

S-M

 

[RednekF350]

I planted 16 San Marzano tomatoes, 16 Ramapo tomatoes, 12 grape tomatoes, 20 cubanelles, 20 long hots, 8 cherry hots, 8 eggplant, 4 hills of zucchini and 4 hills of Marketmore cukes.

The San Marzanos were sickly looking when I bought them last week and I am keeping an eye on them. If they stay that way another week I am yanking them and starting over.

 

[Spung-Man]

I planted 16 San Marzano tomatoes

Well worth the extra effort to restart!

20 long hots

Wow, the perfect breakfast garnish when fried in olive oil; the way they're served at Rodio's Kitchen in Folsom.

S-M

 

[bobpbx]

I bought another tray of campari tomatoes from the supermarket yesterday. Does that count?

 

[NJChileHead]

As pictured below, there are 6 beds total, two empty beds on the left, where 3 cherry tomatoes (sungold, snow white, black cherry) will go, as well as 9 scotch bonnet peppers (Jamaican heirlooms). I had a row garden in this spot last year where I grew many of the same crops, plus spinach, carrots, and bok choy.

The bed on the bottom left has 3 broccoli, and in the lower left of that bed are going to be bush beans. Once the broccoli is harvested I'll plant a staggered planting of all bush beans (4 varieties: blue lake, dragon tongue, purple teepee, and borlotti).

The bed on the upper left has two types of swiss chard (Fordhook giant and oriole orange), and two types of mustard greens (Florida broadleaf and green wave). Mustard greens are one of my favorites-they have an awesome bite to them!

Here are the tomatoes and bonnets. Only 9 bonnets go in, the others go as gifts.

Here's a picture of the bed on the lower right:

3 types of turnips: round red, purple top, and Boule d'or. The closest row is a row of Boule d'or for greens only.

Here's the bed on the upper right:

From foreground to back: 2 (horizontal) rows of collard greens (Georgia southern and morris heading) and 2 rows of kale (Tronchuda and Russian red). Russian red is an absolutely awesome kale that I wouldn't go without. I have given some to people who don't like kale and they loved it. I noticed a few weeds in the corner that came out after I snapped the pic!

Below is another pic of the mustard and chard bed. I got a few harvests of the mustard already, but the chard was harvested once and then hit with leafminer, which I am now controlling.

The mustard is now beginning to bolt, and I'll pull the rest along with some of the turnips and collards to make what they call in the south a "mess of greens" which is one of my favorite things to make with some cornbread and jambalaya or gumbo.

Once the turnips are harvested, I'll plant New Zealand spinach (heat tolerant) and probably some Japanese giant red mustard, which also tolerates heat better than other mustards. Come fall I'll rotate the kale, collards, mustard, turnips back in along with some spinach (bloomsdale, matador Viking), and plenty of beets for greens and roots (4 types: Detroit red, bull's blood, golden, and sugar beets).

We planted on Easter Sunday, and we've gotten a few good sized harvests of greens already. My kids have been involved since day 1, and they're having as good a time as I am!

I'll snap another pic or two within the next few weeks.

I've got some herbs in pots (dill, cilantro, thyme and lemon balm) hoping to attract parasitic wasps and beneficial insects that will keep the aphids, cabbage worms and other stuff away. I don't want anything to mess with my mess of greens!

 

[Teegate]

It is nice to see everyone getting the kids involved at an early age.

 

[RednekF350]

It really is important to get the kids involved.
Children need to see how food really does come out of the ground and not just off a shelf in a store.
They also gain a wholesome, healthy work ethic by helping bring food to the table for their family.

 

[Teegate]

Jessica was out this morning looking at our garden and noticed this and others coming out of a hole. Mom was in a panic nearby. When we got home they must be back in there because it is completely covered up.

 

[Sue Gremlin]

I put in 16 San Marzano tomato plants. I used to plant plum's but these are so much better. I got them at the Red Top Market. I will also be planting regular tomatoes including cherry which never seem to make it back to the house. Also zucchini, cucumbers and horse radish. I hit the horse radish with the tiller a couple of years ago and all the pieces grew into another plant. Are you using drip irrigation? I am thinking of switching from a spray.
I also plant a fun garden with elephant ears , canna and banana plants.
View attachment 7418

Do those elephant ears survive the winter?

 

[RednekF350]

You am be havin' a mole problem Guy !
An old timer gave me an organic cure that I tried and it sort of worked. Put child's pinwheels around the garden. They don't like the vibration in the soil. The absolute best cure was Mole-Tox sold by Agway years ago. Push your finger through their tunnels and drop a few pellets and BAMM ! No more moles ! Of course that's off the market now.
I stand corrected. A similar product is available and only banned in 4 states. NJ isn't one of them.

 

[RednekF350]

I have a vole problem and I spray coyote pee in their tunnel holes. I buy it from a trapping supplier in MN. That works okay but you have to keep on them

 

[Teegate]

That is a baby rabbit. There were a bunch of them in there. The mom must have been feeding them when walked over to the garden and she took off. When we got home they were covered over and have been all day.

 

[smoke_jumper]

That is a baby rabbit. There were a bunch of them in there. The mom must have been feeding them when walked over to the garden and she took off. When we got home they were covered over and have been all day.

Yes. They cover their dens with dead grass. Growing up my father ran over a few with the mower over the years. Using a knit insert and a mason jars we've saved several of the survivors and returned them back.