Yooooo Hope you hard working bastards have an enjoyable day off today! Today is the day for the working man (& ladies!) - so have a good day off! J
Happy Birthday ! I am going to be 67 around harvest , wish I had of started growing much sooner . Look forward to your posts
Odd... I wonder what the difference is... temps? Dryness? We are up in Maine so maybe just being further north... just guessing here. We did have some bolting but also plenty of new flowers throughout. I also like a good steady moisture via thick thick thick mulch... J
I’m in NY. It was HOT this summer and dry but I water twice a day and ground is covered with black woven poly. Bury fish carcasses (salmon) every year and amend with compost.
very hot this year my lettuce bolted fast too....however zucchini, squash, tomatoes, eggplant and cucumbers are plenty
It has been my experience that black landscape fabric - while it does keep weeds down, attracts heat and heat causes plants in general to bolt faster. Try mulching excessively with organic inputs instead in a small area next year as a test - layering old leaves, old hay. Manures, yard clippings, Comfrey, yanked weeds etc etc - layering these items to a thick mat scenario. The worms WILL come - I will find them swarming under this thick mulch layer munching on the decomposing organic matter - you can’t get this with black poly fabric. I find castings (vermicompost) 3”, 4” thick under this organic mulch - plant SUPERFOOD. You will also gain the huge benefits of adding nutrients back into your soil from the decomposing OM - “In place cold composting”. The thick thick thick layers of OM mulch block light effectively minimizing weed growth. The thick thick thick layers of OM mulch very effectively help the soil from drying out. It gets just as hot here as NY - it can be a week of 90’s weather - I can pull the OM mulch back after a week of this weather - two weeks and the worms (goddamn small snakes is what they are!) will be swarming and the soil (vermicompost!) will be perfectly moist - I watered my garden a couple times this summer only right after planting to help them get established - I haven’t had to since - or maybe once? Not even a need with that thick of a mulch over the soil. Try it - I’ll never till or garden another way - myself. I think you’ll see a difference from the bolting. @Jay_R_1787 - next year try planting your lettuce in a semi shaded spot out of the hot sun. I’m still and have been picking lettuce all summer and will be till frost. J
Coming down the home stretch will 4 plants from ITG's recipe .Made some salsa last night with some tomatoes I started very late this summer and some jalepenos even later . My wife has wanted to make a raised bed garden for years and I would like to make one for her but don't know where to start Have about 1/2 a yard of compost left that I ordered to make my soil in April>Any suggestions how to to start would be appreciated .
Of course!! So - are you talking about the physical raised bed itself, or the soil? Not sure what kind of time you have now but if you do have the time, now would be the time to do it…? This all depends on how big of a raised bed you’d like (The Boss) would like... From experience I’m going to tell you that you shouldn’t make it wider than you can reach LOL Incorporating Hugelkultr in with this bed would benefit in several ways - Less watering, helping to inoculate the soil with microbes and less soil to add... are you familiar with this method it all? The location of the raised bed is important as well - Depending on what you are interested in planting in it. We use the Hugel-bed in my front yard for my little kitchen garden - It has a wide variety of herbs but I also am able to pick leaf lettuce all summer and radon into the fall because the bed is in good partial shade instead of being in the full sun all day - which I’m positive helps prevent the lettuces from bolting. Let me know what the Mrs. is interested in growing and what kind of bed you’re interested in constructing. I’m very glad I Inc. Hugelkultr into my own. I certainly wouldn’t go mixing an “expensive” cannabis soil for a kitchen garden though. J
For you folks that are wondering what the heck to do with all those tomatoes that are going to end up supplying the neighborhood kids with rotten tomatoes come fall for rotten vegetable fights (what - don’t tell me you guys didn’t do this as kids?) I was with Mr. August West a few days ago down in NY seeing some music (damn hippies), And we were discussing what to do with all of the extra tomatoes and he tells me that he cores, slices in half and freezes bags of them - and when they come out for use (cooking with) The skins peel right off and they are great to use just like that. I think I might try some of these as well because I’ve got a lot of extras. I am also open to any other ideas that you folks might have - without getting into the whole canning thing. I simply don’t have the time. J
I've been making salsa with my tomatoes, onions or chives, cilantro, jalapenos, cayyene, and banana peppers. turns out awesome!
Jerry it is the making the soil for the raised bed that I need most help with, Going to make some soil for containers as well probably from ITG's recipe I would like to start this fall